Melissa McCarthy ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’

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Source: variety.com/2023/film/news/melissa-mccarthy-the-little-mermaid-poor-unfortunate-souls-disney-1235595280/

‘The Little Mermaid’ Star Melissa McCarthy Brings Down the House as ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ Debuts at CinemaCon

By Rebecca Rubin


Melissa McCarthy
Disney

Pour one out for the poor unfortunate souls who aren’t at CinemaCon. Attendees of the annual exhibition trade show were treated to the first-ever glimpse of Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in Disney’s upcoming “The Little Mermaid” remake, including a show-stopping rendition of the character’s signature number, “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

McCarthy didn’t perform live, but she came to Las Vegas to introduce a clip of the movie, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel. In the dazzling footage, McCarthy channels Tallulah Bankhead with pitch-perfect flair as the evil sea witch convinces Ariel to part with her voice. Sporting dramatic makeup and a short, purple-ish updo, Ursula whips around her tentacles and shimmies through the sea alongside her sidekicks Flotsam and Jetsam while belting the evil anthem.

A live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 animated classic, “The Little Mermaid” tells the story of a King Triton’s youngest daughter, who is fascinated with the world above. So Ariel makes a deal with her evil aunt Ursula to become human in exchange for her dulcet pipes.

While on stage, McCarthy told the audience it was an honor to play one of Disney’s “most delicious and iconic” villains. “She’s dishy. She’s a conniving broad,” she says of Ursula. “You can’t help but love her at the same time.”

Along with Bailey and McCarthy, the voice cast includes Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Daveed Diggs as Sebastian. Rob Marshall directed the film, which releases in theaters on May 26.

Disney has given numerous animated films the live-action treatment — including “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “Mulan” and “Dumbo” — to varying degrees of box office success. During the studio’s CinemaCon presentation on Wednesday morning, crowds at Caesars Palace were treated to new footage from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Pixar’s upcoming “Elemental” and Harrison Ford’s return in “Indiana Jones 5.”

“As we’ve seen with recent box office results, great stories never go out of fashion,” Disney’s distribution chief Tony Chambers told the room of theater owners, to loud applause. “And there is indeed no replacing the experience of a good story in a movie theater.”

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Source: www.indiewire.com/2023/04/disney-cinemacon-recap-elemental-1234832450/amp/

9 Takeaways from a Magical — and ‘Elemental’ — Disney CinemaCon Presentation
Tony Maglio and Brian Welk April 26, 2023 3:01PM EDT


Disney CinemaCon
Disney/Marvel/Pixar

Disney’s magic was on full display Wednesday morning at CinemaCon 2023. For the first time since before the Covid pandemic, the studio is releasing films this year from each of its seven banners: Disney Live Action, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures. And we got footage from all of them.

There were some no-shows, including most celebrities (with the exception of Melissa McCarthy for “The Little Mermaid”), no “Star Wars,” and Searchlight made no mention of its Jonathan Majors acquisition “Magazine Dreams,” which for now is still dated for a release on December 8 during awards season, despite the actor’s controversy and legal woes.

Below are our key takeaways from the no-nonsense, fast-moving, and (mostly) crowd-pleasing Las Vegas presentation.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Looks Good (and Sounds Even Better)
The Caesar’s Palace Colosseum got new “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” footage. It was funny, a bit in the feels, adorable, and backed by excellent ’80s music. In other words, it was completely on-brand for Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), and the rest of the “Guardians” gang.

That reveal set the tone for an exciting, fast-moving, and action-packed Disney presentation. Not everything we saw met the same standard, however.

“The Marvels” Maybe Does Not
Look, “The Marvels” had a tough task this morning. Not only did the sneak peek immediately follow footage from the much-more established “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise’s latest installment — nor was it anything that wasn’t already released online just last week — it was just some 17 hours removed from the thousands of us at CinemaCon being wowed by “The Flash.”

We’re not saying “The Marvels” has no chance to be good or to succeed — frankly, we didn’t get enough of it to be sure — but it’s got a tough task ahead of itself to break out from the pack. (And boy is the field packed: At Sony’s own CinemaCon presentation, we saw footage from “Kraven the Hunter” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” And at Warner Bros Discovery, we got DC’s “Blue Beetle” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”)

“Next Goal Wins” Is a “Loser”
Searchlight’s “Next Goal Wins” may give a lot of “Ted Lasso” vibes, but it turns out to be much, much more. The film, which has been in the works and delayed for years, is the return to indie films from Taika Waititi, who the trailer described as the “Loser” of the Oscar for “Jojo Rabbit” and even the loser of a Teen Choice Award for “Thor: Ragnarok.” That’s fitting, because the film is inspired by the true story of American Samoa’s national soccer team, who hires a new coach played by Michael Fassbender after the team has suffered an historic 31-0 loss and has not scored a goal in its country’s history.

The first trailer for the film, which for now was only seen in Vegas, concluded with a funny gag that is pure Waititi, in which an American Samoan native welcomes Fassbender’s character with open arms and describes him as like “finding a little lost white kid at the mall and telling him which way to go.”

“Next Goal Wins” opens in theaters November 17.

“Wish” Could Be a Star
In Disney Animation’s Thanksgiving 2023 animated release “Wish,” when you wish upon a star, it actually comes true. Well, Disney got a wish granted when Chris Pine joined the voice cast as King Magnifico, which the studio announced Wednesday at CinemaCon.

Beyond the casting news, we got the first footage of Asha (Ariana DeBose) singing what sounds like it will be the movie’s breakout song. The look, plot, and sound was exactly what you’d expect from Chris Buck of the “Frozen” films, who directs alongside Fawn Veerasunthorn. Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice wrote original songs for “Wish.”


Melissa McCarthy’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” Is Anything but Poor
“The Little Mermaid” could be big. There’s just one potential problem (outside of the stupidity of a few racists being offended by the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel): Ursula (Melissa McCarthy in this one) and her eels are definitely going to scare some kids. The original “Little Mermaid” in 1989 was rated “G” — this one is “PG.” The original “Lion King” and its live-action remake had the same trajectory.

McCarthy’s Ursula may be creepy to some of the smallest movie-goers, her rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” will score with bigger ones. We got to see the scene first at CinemaCon, and McCarthy’s voice was as beautiful as the footage itself. The theater owners in attendance were pleased; we’ll find out in a month and change if they’re pleased with ticket sales.

“Elemental” Is Fire
Pixar’s latest original film “Elemental” got a nearly 20-minute look at CinemaCon. In 3D no less!

“Elemental” is a story about Element City, where creatures composed of basic natural elements like Earth, Air, and Water all mix. The film follows the story of a family of Fire elements, who feel and sound like foreigners in Element City. But their family helps create an entirely new community that, over years, is populated by other Fire elements and helps develop a bourgeoning culture just outside the city.

While some people were fiddling with their 3D glasses this morning, the crowd received it warmly, even if it didn’t set the room on “fire” — get it? The film most closely resembles Pixar’s “Inside Out” both in its exploration of the city of different attributes but also the family dynamics.

“True Love” Has a New Title, a Trailer, and a Big Theatrical Push
“The Creator,” formerly titled “True Love,” is being dubbed — and pushed — as a “Theatrical Event.” It certainly looks the part. The film is directed by Gareth Edwards, who previously worked with Disney on “Rogue One”, and it has all the sci-fi sweep of that film. John David Washington stars in a cast that also includes Gemma Chan and Ken Watanabe, and he plays a human man with a troubled past protecting an AI robot who is still modeled as a young boy. The boy asks him about the afterlife and meaning and says, “So what you’re saying is we can’t go to heaven, because you’re not good, and I’m not a person.”

Both the trailer and the presentation from Tony Chambers were light on specific plot details, but it looked impressive all the same. The film will also release in IMAX and is opening in theaters from New Regency on September 29.

“Indy”-Wire
Disney saved the best for last in the first extended look at “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” unveiling a funny and rousing chase sequence ahead of the film’s Cannes premiere next month. Harrison Ford and director James Mangold weren’t here, but no matter, the crowd still loved it. Read more about what we saw here.

No One Wants to Be Scared at 11 a.m.
We wouldn’t say it was exactly a mass exodus after the Disney presentation and ahead of the screening of the “Boogeyman,” but those who stayed to watch the horror movie had plenty of room to stretch out.

Look, we’re guilty too, deciding it was time for eggs, coffee, and writing — not for Stephen King jumpscares. The good news for those who stuck around? After the thriller ends, you’ll have like 10 hours or so before bedtime to forget everything you just saw. There are already enough nightmares in Vegas.

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Melissa McCarthy - Poor Unfortunate Souls (Longer Snippet) | The Little Mermaid 2023

justyourvoice


a longer snippet of melissa singing poor unfortunate souls!

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Source: Youtube

The Little Mermaid | Poor Unfortunate Souls

Walt Disney Studios

17 mag 2023 #TheLittleMermaid

Get your tickets, you poor unfortunate souls, Disney's #TheLittleMermaid is coming to theaters May 26! 🐙🔮🎶

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Source: screenrant.com/ursula-melissa-mccarthy-really-singing-little-mermaid/

Was Melissa McCarthy Really Singing As Ursula In The Little Mermaid?
By
Zachary Moser
Published 4 days ago

Ursula is played by Melissa McCarthy in the live-action The Little Mermaid, but who provides the singing voice for her song "Poor Unfortunate Souls"?


Collage of Melissa McCarthy as Ursula holding her hands over a cauldron and swimming with her eels in The Little Mermaid

Summary

Melissa McCarthy impressively sings as Ursula in the live-action Little Mermaid, showcasing unexpected talents as a singer.
McCarthy initially felt nervous about singing, but with the help of a vocal coach, she realized singing could be approached like acting.
The lyrics of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" were changed in the live-action film to eliminate the implication that girls should not speak out of turn, but it doesn't overshadow McCarthy's performance.

Ursula is played by Melissa McCarthy in the live-action The Little Mermaid, but does she also do her own singing? Premiering in May 2023, The Little Mermaid is in a long line of Disney live-action remakes. The film follows the story of the original 1989 animated film about Ariel (Halle Bailey), a mermaid princess who dreams of being able to go to the world above the waves. Despite the heavy cost of production, The Little Mermaid ended up earning an impressive $569 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo) and is a welcome return to the underwater world.

Besides Ursula and King Triton's (Javier Bardem) altered relationship as brother and sister in the live-action film, the octopus villain is more or less the same as her animated counterpart. This includes Ursula's famous number, "Poor Unfortunate Souls", which was always one of the best songs on the soundtrack. McCarthy is perfect for the evil underwater queen, as the character has always had a sassy, comic sensibility to go along with her more sinister side, which McCarthy can tap into easily. However, singing does not always come easily to even the most accomplished actors, so it was always a question as to who would perform Ursula's song.

Melissa McCarthy Really Did Sing As Ursula In The Little Mermaid


Melissa McCarthy Ursula with her hands under her chin and her tentacles making a heart in The Little Mermaid 2023.

Melissa McCarthy did indeed sing "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in the live-action Little Mermaid. McCarthy is a comic actor, but she has never claimed to have singing as part of her repertoire, so it's impressive she was willing to do so. It's even more impressive considering how nervous McCarthy was before she had to perform the scene. In an interview with Today, McCarthy talks about just how much she wanted to be a part of the film, even joking that she would work on the catering truck on set just to be included. But once she was cast, her excitement was short-lived.

McCarthy says, "When I got it, and I knew I was doing it, then it was, like, 'What have you done? Like, what have you possibly done?'" The acting came naturally to McCarthy, but when she remembered she would have to sing, she became nervous and hired a vocal coach. It was with her singing coach that McCarthy learned singing could be just like acting. She herself didn't need to be able to sing, just her character "Ursula" would need to. With that change of perspective, McCarthy was able to perform at the top of her game.

Why The "Poor Unfortunate Souls" Lyrics Were Changed


Melissa McCarthy as Ursula looking threatening in The Little Mermaid.

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is a song Ursula sings to convince Ariel to sign the deal to relinquish her voice for legs. For the most part, the animated and live-action songs are the same, but the latter changed some of the lyrics to eliminate the implication that girls should not speak out of turn. Alan Menken, who composed the original soundtrack and worked on the live-action songs with Lin-Manuel Miranda had this to say (via Vanity Fair):

"We have some revisions in 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' regarding lines that might make young girls somehow feel that they shouldn't speak out of turn, even though Ursula is clearly manipulating Ariel to give up her voice."

Menken himself was slightly irked by the changes to the lyrics he created in 1989, and it is clear from context that when Ursula is suggesting women "shut up and smile", it's supposed to be obvious that she is in the wrong — she is manipulating Ariel after all. It's an odd choice by the filmmakers, but it certainly doesn't overshadow McCarthy's performance and unexpected talents as a singer in The Little Mermaid.